Toyota Road Report: Off to Peoria

The Cubs enter this week on the backs of three straight series wins, taking four-of-six from the like of Wisconsin, Quad Cities, and West Michigan. South Bend trailed in this last series 2-1 but rattled off three straight victories, including the emotional highs of a walk-off homer in extras on Friday night in front of a packed Four Winds Field, and a second walk-off of the weekend on Sunday in the 11th to beat the Whitecaps 4-3.

Overall the pitching was sensational for South Bend this past week with six rock solid starts, and some memorable dominant efforts from the bullpen in late high leverage spots. The staff is rounding into form, given that this team has been buoyed by the offense in the first half, the Cubs are starting to look like a real contender for the second half in the West.

Now Nick Lovullo’s team will head 230 miles west to Peoria, to take on the Chiefs at Dozer Park.

This is the first time this year we get to see the Cubs vs Cardinals, High-A Midwest League style. Last year South Bend took 4-of-6 at Dozer Park and won the season series 10-8. The year prior South Bend went 15-3 against their Cardinals affiliate rival.

The Chiefs are 20-37 on the season, led by Manager Patrick Anderson, they’re 16 games back of Wisconsin in the West Division and sitting in the cellar of the league. Peoria’s 8-16 mark at home also represents the worst home record. That said, they rattled off three straight wins at Fort Wayne to begin last week, and took the series with a commanding 13-2 win on Saturday night.

The offense has certainly struggled at time for Anderson’s group, entering this week with a league low .635 OPS and .296 OBP. Their strength lies on the rubber where the Chiefs staff sports a 4.06 ERA, good enough for fifth in the MWL. The reverse of West Michigan, you want to get to their starters because Peoria’s bullpen is third in the league with a 3.70 ERA.

Players to look out for on Peoria…

Leonardo Bernal, C: The top rated hitting prospect on the team, per MLB Pipeline, clocks in as the Cardinals NO. 7 prospect, and he’s certainly playing up to that billing. The 20-year-old switch hitting catcher doesn’t have his next birthday til February and is showcasing his tremendous offensive abilities. They aggressively singed him to Low-A and he wound repeated the level again in 2023, but now he’s off and surging in his first High-A action. The Panama native is having a career year to this point, hitting .273 with a .779 OPS (both career bests) and his five homers are already two shy of tying his mark from 2022. In his last 10 games though those numbers under the microscope look quite gaudy. He’s slashing .364/.462/.697 over this stretch with three homers, 10 RBIs, and an impressive six walks to boot. Unquestionably Ethan Salas is the most talked about young backstop in the league, for good reason, but don’t sleep on Bernal who’s been sensational of late and I embarking on quite the campaign.

Cooper Hjerpe, LHP: Hjerpe is the top rated prospect on this club, coming in one spot ahead of Bernal. Entering this series the former Oregon State standout sits sixth in the league in 56 strikeouts and is one of nine pitchers to this point who have thrown north of 50 innings. The crossfire lefty was selected in the first round of the 2022 MLB Draft and started his pro career in High-A in April of 2023. His fourth start came against the Cubs and it was a bizarre one. In four innings he allowed just two hits, but walked five, gave up a homer, took the loss, and yet somehow fanned seven Cubs hitters. His season didn’t go the way anyone planned though as he hit the IL on May 30 and didn’t return back healthy until the first of September. The numbers were solid in 2023, 3.51 ERA and 51 K’s in 41 innings, but the volume just wasn’t what he or the Cardinals brass would’ve hoped for. So he’s back in High-A and dealing. In 37.2 innings the tall lefty has punched out an astonishing 56 batters, with an opposing batting average of .189. He’s got a 3.35 ERA despite an 0-3 record and is coming off back-to-back-to-back scoreless starts.

Chris Rotondo, OF: You’re not going to find the 24-year-old on any top prospects list but he’s definitely a notable bat entering this week. A 19th round pick in 2022 out of Villanova, he spent the first 101 games of his pro career in Low-A, before a promotion in late July of 2023 to Peoria. With the Chiefs in 39 games he was a steady presence in the lineup slashing .277/.398/.489 with five homers and 28 RBIs. For a college bat displaying solid on-base skills, the Cardinals started him this season in AA-Springfield. The results didn’t hold up and he hit .121 in 24 games with a .377 OPS. On May 14 he was back in Peoria but got hurt after a few games. Last Tuesday they activated him again and in his first series back, they saw the flashes of potential return. In five games at Parkview Field he went 5-for-15 (.333), with two homers, and six walks. This could be just a short trip to High-A for him if he can maintain this form, but certainly you can say he’s a bat to watch out for this upcoming series.

Players to look out for on South Bend…

Sam Armstrong, RHP: League Leaders when in comes to pitchers in the minors can be a little finicky. Sam Armstrong woke up on Thursday with a league-leading ERA of 1.66; he’s been a monster to deal with for opposing hitters. He no longer qualifies for the league lead because he’s fallen below the minimum innings requirement, but no doubt after he makes his next start he’ll qualify again. Armstrong has been pedal to the metal all year, going 14 innings without allowing a run in April, then tallying a 2.96 ERA in May, and now he’s begun June with five shutout innings, allowing just two hits, and not walking a batter. He got drilled by a 104 mph liner in the second inning of his start on Wednesday. The seems left a mark and a golf ball developed on his right forearm. He finished the inning. Then he added three more scoreless frames. This is a tough dude. He’s got a build like Daniel Palencia and he’s reaching that level of dominance as well.

Brian Kalmer, 1B: Kalmer absolutely thrived in Myrtle Beach last year. In a little over a month sample late last year, Kalmer’s numbers were as good as any Cubs minor leaguer. But those numbers haven’t translated to High-A yet. It’s always hard to judge young kids in April in South Bend. So many struggle. Kalmer fell into that grouping and then his stats, while not jumping off the page great greatly improved in May. Well he began this month 0-for-11 and then took one swing that may just alter the rest of his season. On Friday night, in front of one of the biggest crowds of the year, Kalmer delivered. With the winning run 90 feet away and one out in the 10th inning, he clobbered a ball out over the wall in left field. It gave the Cubs their first walk-off win of the season and their first walk-off homer in exactly 23 months. The next day he drilled two opposite field doubles to the wall in right; I think he figured something out.

Pedro Ramirez, INF: The longest active on-base streak in the Midwest League belongs to three guys riding 21-gamers, and two of those men are on the Cubs. Jefferson Rojas garners more of the headlines as the 19-year-old top-10 Cubs prospect has quite the high ceiling and has been playing beyond his young age. But Pedro Ramirez is another top prospect and he just continues to get the job done on both sides of the ball. He made some killer defensive gems this week, splitting his time between second base and third and displaying the versatility you love to see from young infielders. Ramirez reached base 13 times this week, including drawing 4 walks over the weekend, which isn’t necessarily an aspect of his game that’s been a strength this season. His .321 batting average leads the entire Cubs farm system, while he’s tied for second in the Midwest League with 62 hits.

Schedule and Probables…

Tuesday, June 11 - 7:35 ET: RHP Sam Armstrong vs LHP Quinn Mathews

Wednesday, June 12 - 7:35 ET: RHP Will Sanders vs TBA

Thursday, June 13 - 7:35 ET: RHP Ty Johnson vs. LHP Pete Hansen

Friday, June 14 - 8:05 ET: LHP Drew Gray vs. RHP Hancel Rincon

Saturday, June 15 - 8:05 ET: RHP Nick Dean vs. LHP Brycen Matzo

Sunday, June 16 - 3:05 ET: RHP Tyler Schlaffer vs. LHP Quinn Mathews